[docs]: Following getting started but dotnet-kubeops does not exist

[mloskot]

Describe the missing piece of documentation

I'm a KubeOps rookie following the tutorial at https://dotnet.github.io/dotnet-operator-sdk/docs/operator/getting-started/ and I've successfully installed the KubeOps CLI:

$ dotnet tool install --global KubeOps.Cli
...
$ dotnet tool install --global KubeOps.Cli
Tool 'kubeops.cli' is already installed.

Then, when follow the "Generate resources" section, I'm getting this:

$ dotnet kubeops generate operator MyOperator ./MyFirstOperator.csproj
Could not execute because the specified command or file was not found.
Possible reasons for this include:
  * You misspelled a built-in dotnet command.
  * You intended to execute a .NET program, but dotnet-kubeops does not exist.
  * You intended to run a global tool, but a dotnet-prefixed executable with this name could not be found on the PATH.

I can see the kubeops command is in my PATH:

$ which kubeops
/home/mloskot/.dotnet/tools/kubeops
$ kubeops --version
9.11.9+7d1187a2535517c661638fcdbab8e50baeb17407

What am I missing or doing wrong?

---

My environent

• Ubuntu 25.10
• dotnet version 9.0.111

  $ dotnet --list-sdks`
  9.0.111 [/usr/lib/dotnet/sdk]
  $ dotnet --list-runtimes
  Microsoft.AspNetCore.App 9.0.10 [/usr/lib/dotnet/shared/Microsoft.AspNetCore.App]
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 8.0.21 [/usr/lib/dotnet/shared/Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  Microsoft.NETCore.App 9.0.10 [/usr/lib/dotnet/shared/Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  

• kubectl version 1.33.5

[mloskot]

There is not saying:

The resource generation is automatically included in the build process.

so I moved forward and, in VS Code, I run .NET: Build or .NET: Rebuild command, no luck:

...
 *  Executing task: dotnet: rebuild /home/mloskot/workshop/kubeops/MyFirstOperator/MyFirstOperator.csproj 

dotnet build /home/mloskot/workshop/kubeops/MyFirstOperator/MyFirstOperator.sln /target:MyFirstOperator:rebuild /property:GenerateFullPaths=true /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform="Any CPU" /consoleloggerparameters:NoSummary 
C# extension build result service is available.
  Determining projects to restore...
  All projects are up-to-date for restore.
  MyFirstOperator -> /home/mloskot/workshop/kubeops/MyFirstOperator/bin/Debug/net9.0/MyFirstOperator.dll
  KubeOps CLI is not installed as tool, cannot generate stuff for projects. Please install it with 'dotnet tool install KubeOps.Cli' to use automatic build generation.
  Property 'GenerateOperatorResources' property did not evaluate to 'true'. Do not generate operator configs.
 *  Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it. 

I proceed with https://dotnet.github.io/dotnet-operator-sdk/docs/operator/getting-started/#install-crds, but no luck either:

$ dotnet kubeops install ./MyFirstOperator.csproj
Could not execute because the specified command or file was not found.
Possible reasons for this include:
  * You misspelled a built-in dotnet command.
  * You intended to execute a .NET program, but dotnet-kubeops does not exist.
  * You intended to run a global tool, but a dotnet-prefixed executable with this name could not be found on the PATH.

Hmm, what am I missing?

[mloskot]

Workaround

Since

• You intended to execute a .NET program, but dotnet-kubeops does not exist.

then

ln -s /home/mloskot/.dotnet/tools/kubeops /home/mloskot/.dotnet/tools/dotnet-kubeops

in order to get

$ which dotnet-kubeops
/home/mloskot/.dotnet/tools/dotnet-kubeops

Now, generating CRDS works as expected:

$ dotnet kubeops generate operator MyOperator ./MyFirstOperator.csproj
Generate operator resources.
Load Project/Solution file.
Compile project /home/mloskot/workshop/kubeops/MyFirstOperator/MyFirstOperator.csproj.
Load project.                        
Project loaded.                      
Load compilation context.            
Compilation context loaded.          
Start compilation.                   
Compilation successful.              
                                     
Generate RBAC rules.
Generate Dockerfile.
Generate Deployment.
Generate CRDs.
...

[kimpenhaus]

hey @mloskot - I think the documentation is outdated. (as you already labeled)

when you see the troubleshoot page on dotnet tools

and see the ToolCommandName in the cli project:

the correct usage should be:

kubeops generate operator MyOperator ./MyFirstOperator.csproj

could you verify?

[mloskot]

Hey @kimpenhaus, thanks for the response.

and see the ToolCommandName in the cli project:

Do you mean in the project created with dotnet new operator -n MyFirstOperator presented by the getting started ?

AFAICT, there is no PropertyGroup with ToolCommandName generated:

the correct usage should be:

kubeops generate operator MyOperator ./MyFirstOperator.csproj

I see. So, all dotnet kubeops should read kubeops across the docs, correct?

[kimpenhaus]

@mloskot the ToolCommandName is in the Cli-Project in the repo.

sorry if that was confusing - just wanted to give some insights

So, all dotnet kubeops should read kubeops across the docs, correct?

yap - that's what I guess and would like you to verify 😄

[mloskot]

@kimpenhaus No problem, thanks for the clarification.

I can confirm the corrected usage of kubeops generate operator MyOperator ./MyFirstOperator.csproj works:

So, all dotnet kubeops should read kubeops across the docs, correct?

yap - that's what I guess and would like you to verify 😄

Okey, then here is a quick find-and-replace PR #991 :)

[kimpenhaus]

awesome - thanks.

we need to wait for pr #990 to be completed - after that I will approve both of your pr's. currently they are running into a linter issue.

[mloskot]

Sure. Yes, I've noticed that too, then found the #990, and I refrained from panicking about the failing checks for the first PR that I submitted.

[kimpenhaus]

@mloskot I am closing this issue as your pr is merged now - thanks again for pointing out and updating the docs accordingly

[mloskot]

@kimpenhaus Sure. Thank you!